Monday, 29 January 2018

Should I stop buying this beer?

I've always has a soft spot for Brouerij 't Ij. At one time, they were one of the few breweries making interesting beer in the whole of the country. For a while, it was the only brewery in Amsterdam. Now it's just the oldest.

I've drunk their beer regularly all the thirty years that I've lived in Amsterdam. And their labels are good, too. Distinctive, and with an underlying design theme.

But when they introduced an IPA, they went with something very different in style.

I don't feel very comfortable with the image. It's also a pretty crap design and doesn't fit with the packaging of any of their other beers.

I've no idea why they came up with this label. It put me off trying the beer at first. Unfortunately. I quite like it. Should I keep buying it? Are my continuing purchases encouragement to keep the current design?

Yes, an email explaining your discomfort with the merchandising and referencing the recent change in the opposite direction for Castle Rock Elsie Mo should get them at least thinking about what they're doing.

"I've no idea why they came up with this label. It put me off trying the beer at first. Unfortunately. I quite like it. Should I keep buying it? Are my continuing purchases encouragement to keep the current design? "

It certainly seems rather tone-deaf in the current environment in the UK, at least. I'd talk to them, pointing out your discomfort and the fact that it will probably cost them sales in the UK and US. Ask them if they will bring out a male equivalent?

Plus it's just bad art - the poor girl appears to have a double-jointed right hip.

As for the beer - shurely it should be an Indonesian Pale Ale? Was there a history of exports of special beers to the Dutch colonies?

Given following anonymous advice that includes such tinfoil hat blurt as "outrage culture from the lobotomized twitter gestapo" sorta now requires you to boycott lest ye be tarnished with the stink of the dope.

Why do you find the label uncomfortable? Perhaps you should contact the brewery, as has been suggested, and point that out. I don't; but then I see it as tattoo art type of theme rather than being about ladies norks. But that's just what *I* see. If most people see something else, possibly offensive, possibly something the brewery have missed in good faith, then let them know.

Better calm, informed people like you doing this, than the squeeling and wailing of the permanently offended Twitter mob organising an online lynching. If we had less of that, and more of sensible people like yourself explaining that the brewery may like to think again, the world would be a better place.

And of you don't like / believe the brewers response to your email, then perhaps then stop buying the product?

Yes. Ignore my advice about creating an informed opinion. You should do what Alan says unless you want to be tarred with guilt by association from an anonymous commenter.

You shouldn't act on your 2008 article about self censorship but rather conform to any opinion which drives internet traffic (outrage culture). Note to Alan: all "sides" use this marketing technique and it's getting old hence the "so 2016".

Me? I did a 2 minute search before I commented and was greeted to abundant information about the artists brief on several websites. Since you want to be spoon fed:

http://www.thedieline.com/blog/2012/6/6/brouwerijt-ij-ipa.html

http://lovelypackage.com/brouwerij-%E2%80%98t-ij-ipa/

It appears it might have been plagarized or as another insightful commenter wrote, highly influenced by other art.

Like I said, form your own opinion and write what you want. It's your blog and no one would be commenting if they didn't find it interesting.

Tim Hampson attacked the brewery over this label at the European beer bloggers' conventon in Amsterdam in 2016. It was clear from the look on the face of the guy from 't IJ that he had no idea why Tim was angry. Boycott it. This isn the 21st century, for fuck's sake – women are allowed to drink beer now.

Ah,the Twitchforkers smell blood.Rather like the beer blogging couple who censored my harmless joke about the non-binary transgender craft beer worker and his/her views on growlers this is risible stuff.Like those cretins who protest about Churchill's record at the Blighty Cafe in London. And Great Ormond Street Hospital giving back half a million quid to the President's Club.Get over yourselves.It's like sniggering at the cock on Michaelangelo's David.I'm surprised at you Ron - I never had you down as a snowflake.

I'm sure a lot of important discussions abound at a "bloggers" convention, including exciting topics like use of syntax and who manufactures the most ergonomic keyboard. Oh yeah, and beer labels. And who the F is Tim Hampson?

“Inspired by a tour of US microbreweries, Amsterdam’s Brouwerij het IJ decided to create their own US-punk-style IPA. Branding studio Redthumb was given it’s shortest ever brief (simply “Tits, tattoos, and skulls”) and created a design with enough punch to match the full flavoured brew. The design picks up on the the brewery’s rebellious nature and is a homage to east coast streetart and artists such as Rebel 8. Hand drawn in-house at Redthumb, the label reflects Brouwerij het IJ’s reputation for producing beers full of character and tongue-in-cheek attitude.”

The irony is it's a brewery in Amsterdam.I wonder if the bedwetters avert their gaze and tut-tut in disgust as they perve their way past the half-naked hookers in the windows as they make their " pilgrimage " to De Wildeman ?Some people are just not happy if they haven't got something to get outraged about.It's a beer label for goodness sake.

Make your birthday special

By brewing a beer originally made on that date.

For a mere 25 euros, I'll create a bespoke recipe for any day of the year you like. As well as the recipe, there's a few hundred words of text describing the beer and its historical context and an image of the original brewing record.